Friends on the Road
by SunSpell13467
Summary: After finding a way to cross the void back into Pete's World to retrieve Rose, the Doctor and Rose are attempting to get back to their proper universe. En route, they end up in the Potterverse in the middle of the Second Wizarding War. - Disclaimer: Anything you recognize is the property of either JK Rowling or BBC. I do not own Harry Potter or Doctor Who.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize is the property of either JK Rowling or BBC. I do not own Harry Potter or Doctor Who, and I do not gain anything from this romp into fanfiction other than creative release (which money can't really buy anyway, yea, so that's ok!)**

1997; Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Astronomy Tower

Paralyzed by Dumbledore's _petrificus totalus_, Harry had no choice but to stay hidden, silently, under his invisibility cloak as the scene unraveled before him. Draco Malfoy had yet to fulfill his threats to murder the weakened headmaster, but the sounds of the fighting below were steadily getting closer. Harry knew it was just a matter of time before the fragile balance that had been built between Dumbledore and the frightened Slytherin was broken. His attention to the conversation before him filtered in and out as he tried to figure out just how far away the battle was from them.

"... I can help you, Draco," he heard Dumbledore explain in a tone he supposed was meant to soothe and persuade.

"No, you can't," Malfoy responded dolefully. "Nobody can. He told me to do it or he'll kill me. I've got no choice."

The conversation continued as Dumbledore explained to Malfoy that the Order could protect him and his family. The headmaster's blue eyes were focused on the boy in front of him, imploring him to understand that this was not his only option, that the situation wasn't hopeless.

"... Come over to the right side, Draco... you are not a killer..."

Harry watched as Malfoy's shaking wand hand faltered, and then dropped to his side, the desperation in his face making his already pointed features seem sharp.

"What do I do?" The tone of the other boy's voice made Harry's heart clench in sympathy, despite his dislike for him. In that moment, Harry was reminded that they are all just children, 16 year old students.

A sudden crash in the staircase reminds all three occupants of the room that the fight is coming to them, and soon. Malfoy flinches at the sound, but doesn't raise his wand again, unsure of what to do. Harry feels the body bind being lifted, and rises to his feet, still hidden from view under his cloak.

"Draco," Dumbledore begins, "right now, all that I need you to do is trust me. The two of you have to get out of here. Now. Preferably together."

"Two of us?" The sudden confusion on Malfoy's face would have been amusing to Harry if the statement hadn't been followed by a shout from below. The Death Eaters were getting closer.

_Time to act then, I suppose_, Harry thinks sharply. He quietly mutters an _expelliarmus_ and watches Malfoy's eyes widen as his wand leaves his fingers. Flinging aside the cloak, Harry catches the wand.

"You may be good and ready to trust him, Professor," he says, turning to Dumbledore as he walks toward the Slytherin, "but I'd just as soon not have him armed if we're going to try to escape."

The look Dumbledore levels at Harry is a mixture of disappointment and understanding. But he nods, snapping his fingers. There is a distinct popping sound as Dobby appears in front of the headmaster.

"Dobby, I need you to transport Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy out of the tower, bring them to my office, and keep them there until the castle is secured."

"Dobby is always happy to help Harry Potter!"

"We are not leaving -" Harry's protest is cut off as Dobby grabs his and Malfoy's hands, and with a popping sound, transports them to Dumbledore's office.

* * *

"So what's going to happen with Malfoy? 'S not like he can go home for the summer," Ron asks, changing the topic slightly as he, Harry, and Hermione meander around the edge of Hogwarts' lake. Dumbledore's funeral had just ended and the three of them have been discussing their upcoming search for the remaining Horcruxes.

Harry answers looks up at Ron and Hermione's expectant faces. When McGonagall found the two of them in Dumbledore's office after the battle, he had reiterated everything that had happened to his head of house. She proceeded to summon Remus Lupin, and the two of them had discussed in hushed tones what would happen to Malfoy. "He's going into hiding at one of the Order's safe houses," Harry replies.

"Well, that's good. Maybe he will actually become an asset to the Order, instead of just a bystander," Hermione offers.

"This is Malfoy," Ron scoffs. "Not wanting to die is a far cry from wanting to fight for the Order."

Harry shakes his head at the two of them. "Doesn't really matter, as long as he doesn't go back over to them. We have more pressing things to be concerned about than the future of Draco Malfoy."

"Too right, mate," Ron agrees as they finish circling the lake, chatting amicably about Bill and Fleur's upcoming wedding.

_A little normalcy before all hell breaks loose_, Harry muses to himself, _something we will definitely need_.

* * *

2007; TARDIS, the Time Vortex

"Forty-second time's a charm, then," the Doctor mumbles to himself as he jogs back up to the console of the TARDIS, running his hands through his hair in frustration.

The time ship hums tiredly in agreement, and with a sad smile on his face, the Doctor lays his hand on the time rotor.

"One more try before we stop off in Cardiff to refuel, yeah?" The lights flicker once in affirmation. He double checks the spatial and time coordinates of his destination – that much stays the same, every single time – and then moves down the console to the trans-dimensional computer. Scrolling through the complicated equation on the screen, he finds the variable that he is searching for and alters it slightly. Walking a little further around the circle, the Doctor stops, flips a switch, and feels his ship shake as it flies from the Time Vortex, across the Void, and into what he hopes will finally be the correct alternate universe.

With a jolt, the TARDIS lands, and the Doctor picks himself up off of the jump seat. He approaches the doors; closing his eyes to steady himself, the Doctor flings the doors open.

Never in his unbelievably long life has the Doctor been so relieved to see a zeppelin obscure the London skyline. He had finally made it.

"Let's go get her, then, shall we?" He asks his ship as the Doctor rushes back to the console and starts the dematerialization sequence with a look of triumph on his face. By his calculations, the TARDIS has just enough energy left in her reserves to make this jump, and then one back to their home universe. "I'll just have to nail this landing then, won't I," he says aloud to himself and his ship, his voice determined.

He grasps the console, bracing himself for the inevitably bumpy landing and isn't surprised when he falls backward as the TARDIS reaches their destination. Opening the doors, the Doctor is happy to note that – _for once!_ – he is exactly where he meant to go.

The utterly shocked look on Jackie Tyler's face when he finally sees her, only further proves to him that he is indeed in the right place.

"Well hello there, Jackie!" He says excitedly, stepping out of his ship.

She eyes him suspiciously, putting her cup of tea on the table in front of her and approaching him slowly. Jackie stops in front of him, and the Doctor flinches as she lays a hand on his cheek.

"Oh my God, you're really here," she whispers, looking behind the Time Lord into the open door of the TARDIS. She removes her hand from his face. "Oh my God, it's really you. You're really here. After all that talk of impossible, here you are, standing in our living room like it's the most natural thing in the universe."

"I suppose it's not the most natural thing in this universe. Was in the last one though, wasn't it? Besides, I've never really been big on impossible," he smiles smugly down at Rose's mother. Not that he'd ever admit it out loud, but he had missed her as well as Rose, though not nearly as much.

Jackie stares at him in shock for another full minute before looking at him as though she has made a decision. Before the Doctor knows what's happening, Jackie Tyler has punched his shoulder.

_No, definitely not nearly as much, _the Doctor muses to himself as he looks at her in disbelief and makes a disgruntled noise, rubbing the spot she had hit. It takes the Doctor a minute to realize that Jackie is scolding him.

"… a year and a half Doctor, she's been miserable for a year and a half, since we saw you on that bloody beach in bloody NORWAY! All that talk about how it's impossible and how it'll tear both universes apart and here you are in my-"

He yells her name, effectively stopping her tirade. She looks at him, clearly expecting him to explain himself.

"I thought it was impossible," the Doctor sighs to himself, and then continues in a weary voice.

"It took me over a year to figure out how to get here without the help of another Time Lord. And even then, I didn't actually land here until my forty-second attempt. I have been fighting for over a year to get her back, Jackie," the Doctor locks eyes determinedly with Jackie before concluding. "I'm here to bring her home, if she wants to come with me."

Jackie seemed to deflate as she let go of her tension. "Well, then. Why don't I make you a cuppa while we wait for her to get home from the market?"

The Doctor nods, a silent thank you, and watches as Jackie walks out of the room.


	2. Chapter One

"Looks like we've landed in some sort of cupboard," the Doctor observes as he pops his head out of the TARDIS doors. "Again."

He steps through the doors, running a hand through his gravity-defying hair and looks back at his companion as she closes the doors behind them. The Doctor takes a moment to take Rose in, hardly believing that he is traveling with her again. She is wearing the same black leather jacket she had on that day at Bad Wolf Bay and her signature jeans and trainers combination. Always ready to run, his Rose Tyler. Moving his eyes away from her, he takes in the small space.

"Doesn't feel quite right, though, not quite as wrong as a lot of the universes that I've found myself in lately, but not quite right either," he continues, sticking his tongue out and lapping at the air before swirling it around his mouth.

"Did you just taste the air?" Her own tongue is caught between her teeth in a cheeky grin. Oh, he's missed that tongue-in-teeth smile.

"Yup," he replies with a pop. "And like I said, not quite right. Guess we should be off then."

The Doctor turns back toward the TARDIS doors to pull them open again, only to be paused by Rose's hand on his forearm.

"Did you hear that?" He starts to reply that no, he hadn't heard anything, only to pause at the sound of an indistinguishable shout.

He locks eyes with Rose and raises his eyebrows at her once, their silent code for _shall we?_ She responds with a wide smile, grabbing his hand and dragging him out of the cupboard.

They hurry toward the front of the shop, only to realize that they are in a small, all-night café. The Doctor puts his free hand out in front of Rose, signaling to her silently to move cautiously. He pulls out and switches on the sonic screw driver as they duck down before moving through the open door. They stop, hidden behind a counter, to listen to the exchange going on in the room.

"If I can't use magic, and you can't use magic near me, without giving away our position –," they hear a young, male voice say.

"We are not splitting up!" Interrupts another voice. _Female, definitely female_, the Doctor thinks to himself.

"We need a safe place to hide; give us time to think things through," reasons another voice, male, but different from the first.

"Grimmauld Place," replies the original voice.

The Doctor feels Rose squeeze his hand as he turns to look at her, confused. Grimmauld Place? Where had he heard that before? She is mouthing something at him, but he can't quite decipher it, not paying complete attention as he tries to place the location. Rose lets out an exasperated sigh, and before he can stop her, she is standing up.

"We can help!"

The three teens turn around, caught off guard, wands raised at the ready once again.

"Seriously Rose, has your finesse completely disintegrated in the last year and a half?" The Doctor stands up, placing himself next to and slightly in front of his entirely too jeopardy-friendly companion.

"You're one to talk about finesse, Mr. Rude-and-not-ginger," she quips back, looking at his sonic screwdriver. "And I'm not really sure how much help that will be; not exactly a wand is it." The Doctor is about to retort, but the girl from the group in front of them speaks first.

"Who exactly are you," she asks. Her hair is a chestnut brown, a bit bushy, but more curly than anything. She looks anxious and is dressed practically, in a jacket and jeans.

"I'm Rose Tyler, and this is the Doctor," he hears Rose answer as he takes in the appearance of the two men. One, he notices - with a small stab of emotion that is most certainly not jealousy - is ginger and tall, with lanky limbs. The other man is shorter by comparison, with unruly black hair, round-rimmed glasses and… _is that a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead_?

"Rassilon. You're Harry Potter," his face lights up with comprehension. "That's… that's brilliant! Rose, he's Harry Potter! Is that what you were mouthing to me behind the counter? Look at him! He's a real, live, human Harry Potter. Oh, Martha would be so jealous."

The Doctor hesitates in his ramblings for a beat as he catalogues the look on Rose's face at the mention of Martha Jones. She raises and eye brow at him, but before she can ask him about his most recent traveling companion, he redirects her attention to the incredible situation in front of them.

"So you two," he gestures to the other wizard and witch excitedly, "must be Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger." The Doctor watches as the three of them exchange a wary look.

"It's smart of you to be cautious – of strangers, I mean. Well, in general, really," He surveys the room quickly, taking in the bodies of two large, stunned men, and one woman who must be the café's waitress. "Based on the situation we're finding you in, you must have just come from the wedding."

"How do you know that?" Ron asks suspiciously.

"It's a bit hard to explain, really," Rose states, stepping out from behind the Doctor, releasing his hand so that she can put both of hers out to show that she is unarmed. "And I'm not sure if this is the best place to do it properly. All that you have to know is that we can help. And that we aren't Death Eaters," she adds as an afterthought.

"No, no, definitely not Death Eaters," the Doctor reiterates, shaking his head in distaste. "Actually, we're Muggles. Well, sort of. She is certainly a Muggle, anyway, a brilliant one, but a Muggle nonetheless." He can almost feel the heat of Rose's glare burning through his suit as she looks at him sideways. "What, you are! They would figure it out eventually, it's not like you can pretend to be a witch."

"If you're Muggles, then how d' you know who we are?" Ron breaks in, drawing their attention back to the three people across the counter from them.

"Like Rose said, it's a bit hard to explain," he switches off the sonic screwdriver. "But really we can help. You just have to trust us."

"Give us a mo, yeah?" The redhead asks, and the Doctor watches as the three huddle together, undoubtedly to decide whether or not to trust them. He glances over at Rose, taking her hand again, idly swinging their joined hands between them as they wait.

It doesn't take long for Harry, Ron, and Hermione to make the decision to follow them. _As if they have many options_, the Doctor muses to himself.

He can practically feel the excitement radiating off of Rose as they lead the way to the TARDIS. Obviously the Doctor had been aiming for their proper universe, but accidentally landing in a parallel one where the Harry Potter books are real history is toward the top of his list of accidental victories. Talk about an impressive way to welcome Rose back to the TARDIS.

The group reaches the cupboard where the TARDIS is parked and the Doctor opens the door. Rose reaches for her key, slung around her neck on its simple chain and unlocks the police box door.


	3. Chapter Two

The Doctor pulls open the TARDIS doors with a flourish, rushing up to the console with a manic grin. This is his favorite part, when someone new gets introduced to his ship. He turns on the heel of his trainers and his smile falls a bit at the un-impressed looking Hogwarts students. Rose shakes her head good-naturedly at his deflation and walks to stand next to him at the Time Rotor.

"They have tents and bags that are bigger on the inside, Doctor," Rose reminds him quietly, as Harry, Ron, and Hermione calmly file into the ship, quietly taking in their surroundings, Ron the only one even slightly confused by the Muggle – alien – technology in front of him. "Not to mention Portkeys and Time-Turners. Did you really expect for them to be all that amazed by the TARDIS?"

He is about to retort when he hears Hermione clear her throat on the other side of the console. The Doctor and Rose turn back to the three students as a slightly awkward silence settles over them. Rose looks up at her Time Lord expectantly before realizing that he is not going to offer them any basic hospitality beyond inviting them into his ship. _Still rude then, I suppose._

"Would any of you like a cuppa? I could put on the kettle and we could settle down in the galley with some biscuits and tea," Rose asks in what she thinks is a welcoming and reassuring voice. They're children, they just found out that there had been a government coup, and they barely escaped a Death Eater attack. The least that she and the Doctor could do was to offer them a cup of tea.

Hermione meets her gaze and there is a moment where the younger girl seems to be sizing her and the Doctor up; Rose can almost see the gears turning in the witch's head. The hesitation lasts only a second longer before a small smile breaks on Hermione's face.

"That would be lovely, thank you. Lead the way," she gestures toward the hallway and Rose turns to the Doctor.

"I'll meet you in the galley, just going to reinforce our perception filters until we know where we're going," he tells her, looking down at the TARDIS controls, hands flicking switches and pushing buttons as naturally as breathing.

Rose cups his cheek in her palm and feels him tense for a second before relaxing into it. The Doctor pauses his work to look up at her meaningfully.

"We'll talk later, yeah. After we get them settled and everythin'," she states more than asks, running her thumb across his cheekbone. _He does have such lovely cheekbones_, she adds to herself.

He nods then flicks his eyes back to their guests, who have quietly observed the entire exchange with their eyes slightly averted. Rose turns back to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, a bright smile taking over her face.

"Right, to the galley then!" They nod and Rose can feel the Doctor watching them as she leads the three students down the hallway deeper into his ship.

* * *

"So let me get this straight," Ron says, waving a Jammie Dodger at Rose for emphasis. "In this other universe, the one that you're from, we," he gestures to his friends, "are fictional characters in a bestselling, beloved novel by a Muggle woman named J.K. Rowling."

"Yeah, basically. That's how we knew who you were and where you'd just come from," Rose replies. They seemed to be taking the news quite well.

"But how did she know, how did she get it so spot on?" Hermione inquires, her interest having been piqued the moment Rose started in on the rather long explanation.

"It's not as uncommon as you'd think," the Doctor responds from the galley doorway, finally joining the group and taking the empty seat between Rose and Harry where an unattended cup of tea sits waiting for him. He takes a sip, finding it just how he likes it, smiles at Rose fondly, and continues. "While travel between universes is – supposedly, theoretically – impossible now, they often collide and you can see imprints, echoes if you will, of different universes in your own. Some, like Rowling, get a sense of it and are hit by inspiration. Doesn't mean her stories follow the events and characterizations exactly, that's highly improbable. But they're probably close enough." The Doctor picks up a Jammie Dodger of his own and lays his free arm across the back of Rose's chair.

"If travel between universes is supposed to be impossible, then how are you here?" Ron asks and grins lopsidedly at the look of praise that he gets from Hermione. "What, I can ask intelligent questions Hermione. Always with the surprise."

"That's where all of this becomes complicated. I am a Muggle, like we said before, and this one," she nods at the Doctor as he bites into his third biscuit, "is a time and space travelling alien."

Rose can hear the Doctor choke a little on his bite of Dodger and she smiles triumphantly, having caught him so off guard. "What, like you said Doctor, there's no point in lying, they would have figured it out eventually."

A glance around the table shows Rose how their guests take the information. Ron looks the most perturbed – _he's probably the least familiar with the idea of aliens, _Rose reminds herself– whereas Harry and Hermione look only slightly surprised.

"You know, if you had told me that six years ago, I wouldn't have believed you," Harry says, speaking for the first time from his seat beside the Doctor. "But once you find out you're a wizard, not much else surprises you. I've seen too much shit that I never thought was possible over the last few years to think anything is impossible."

"Guess 's not so complicated then, is it? The basics, anyway," Rose says with a shrug. She thinks back to when she first met the Doctor and how easily she accepted that he wasn't human, back when he was all ears and leather. _Are you alien? Yes; that all right? Yeah._ "Didn't take much to convince me either."

A companionable silence falls over the group as they all sip their tea, quietly pondering their situation. Rose couldn't help but think that not 24 hours ago, she had thought she would be stuck in Pete's World forever. Now, here she was sitting in the TARDIS galley with three of her favorite fictional character. _Well, life hasn't exactly been _predictable_ since I met the Doctor. _She smiles to herself tiredly at the thought. Rose is brought out of her reflections as Harry shifts in his seat.

"As much as we appreciate your hospitality and everything, we really do have to keep moving," Harry says into the quiet room. "If you know as much as you seem to, then you know what we're after and why. People – our friends and teachers, complete strangers, wizards and Muggles alike – are going missing, dying. As much as we may want to pretend it's not happening, we can't."

"I understand better than you know, Harry. But who knows the next time you'll have a decent night's sleep." the Doctor reasons. "I'll get us into this universe's Time Vortex so that the TARDIS can recharge safely while you four sleep and run some scans. If you can get me an address for Grimmauld Place, I can run the coordinates and land us there tomorrow morning. I wish we could offer you more than a night or two of security, but we can't tell you anything we know. The details might be just off enough to mess up your mission."

"A safe place to sleep and a hot shower would be perfect, thank you," Hermione answers for the group. Harry looks like he is about to protest, and Rose tries to hide a smile behind her mug as Hermione stops him with a look. "Don't even start with me Harry. He's right. We're all tired and it's what we'd be doing at Grimmauld Place anyway. We will go there in the morning."

Rose and the Doctor stand as Hermione finishes admonishing Harry and begin collecting the mugs as the Doctor explains how to find their rooms, "Just follow the lights; there will be signs on the doors with your names on them."

"Wonderful, thank you. Come on, boys," Hermione says as they get up from the table and mutter their good nights.

The Doctor watches them walk out of the room before turning to Rose. "They don't ask any of the good questions. No 'Doctor Who?' or 'How is it bigger on the inside?' 'How does it know our names?' Nothing. No curiosity," he says, leaning back against the counter.

"None of that is really very new to them, Doctor," Rose responds, before turning to look him straight in the eye. "We can't just leave them Doctor. I'm not saying that we have to tell them anything, because like you said, it probably wouldn't help much, but we can't just leave them if we could help them."

He runs his hands over his face and back through his hair, one settling on the back of his neck, "Rose, we wouldn't really be able to be much help. You know that."

"I know you're not magical, Doctor, I'm aware that we wouldn't be able to fight in the war," she responds, her exhaustion catching up with her. She did not want to get into an argument with him after being back for just a day. "But we can do exactly what you said, make sure they have a safe place to sleep, offer them a lift. Not to mention with all the alien tech you've got here, we could probably help them track the Horcruxes."

He's looking at her with that look – the one he had when he was nothing but a projection on Bad Wolf Bay, and she doesn't quite understand what put it there. Before she can think on it too long, there is a shift in his demeanor and Rose can almost physically see the Doctor rebuild walls, blocking her out, his hands coming to rest on the counter behind him.

"Can we talk about this in the morning, Rose? We'll figure it out then. You should get some sleep; it's been a long day," his face is blank, but his eyes are tired and his voice sounds almost defeated, and Rose decides to just drop it for now.

She places her hand over one of his and squeezes it. "When was the last time _you_ slept Doctor, like properly slept," she asks quietly. His silence confirms what she already knew; it's been a while, longer than he cares to admit. "Throw us into the Vortex, but then you should get some sleep, okay?"

He turns his hand over under hers and squeezes back, smiling softly. It's as much of an answer she's going to get, Rose knows. They leave the galley holding hands before separating, Rose to the left toward her bedroom and the Doctor the opposite direction to the console room.


	4. Introspection: The Doctor

I'm aware that it has taken me a while to get this chapter to you - I promise I have three very good excuses. 1) My best friend who I haven't seen in five months came to visit me, so I was balancing her with a 40-hour work week. Doesn't leave much time for writing, unfortunately. 2) My cat ATE THROUGH my laptop's charger, when my battery was only at, like, 30%. Naturally. So I had to wait a week for my new one to come. 3) In the process of writing this I found out that Ben Affleck was cast as Batman in the new Batman/Superman movie. That was just traumatizing and I had to properly mourn the newest development in one of my oldest fandoms.

And yes, this is short, but I wanted to get you something. This is the first in some shorter chapters dedicated to single characters and their view on recent events. They also serve to move the timeline forward. So here you go! Enjoy! And thank you for the follows! :) As always I own nothing recognizable.

* * *

They have been at Grimmauld Place for three weeks, and the Doctor is getting anxious. He had spent the better part of their first two days at the house running tests to see if the TARDIS would be able to travel and refuel in this universe. Upon discovering that it could, he no longer had a reason for them to leave that Rose would deem legitimate, so here they are, almost a month later, still at Grimmauld Place.

Ever willing to make the best out of an unexpected situation (a trip that ended in being both knighted and banished springs to mind), the Doctor and Rose set about finding as many differences as possible between the Harry Potter books and what they had come to call the Potterverse.

Rose had started a list of the differences and similarities, which she tacked to the TARDIS' fridge. _So that we don't get confused_, she had told him. Standing in the kitchen now, waiting for Rose to emerge from her room so that they could join their new companions, he read over their findings.

In keeping with the book's timeline, Kreacher had returned three days after being sent by Harry to find Mundungus Fletcher and the real Horcrux. The locket had indeed been bought by Dolores Umbridge – Rose's infuriated _that bloody bitch_ still echoed in the Doctor's ears – and the small group had begun making plans to infiltrate the ministry.

They discovered that the Weasley family lost Arthur at the Department of Mysteries and that Sirius was, in fact, alive and well living at one of the Order's safe houses, which were spread throughout Britain. Not unlike the novel, the Order abandoned Grimmauld Place after the death of Albus Dumbledore in reaction to Snape's betrayal, its former occupants moved to an undisclosed location. Ron and Hermione were most definitely NOT an item – they had broken out in manic laughter at the very idea, as Ron was happily in a relationship with Lavender Brown, who apparently wasn't as terrible in real life as she was in the books. Hermione's mum and dad were hiding in Canada, not Australia, and were actually professors, not dentists, of literature and anthropology, respectively.

His attention is pulled away from the list by the sound of Rose's footsteps on the grating in the hallway. There are moments when he still thinks it is his mind playing tricks on him – that this is all just a dream: getting back to her and ending up in this universe. He has to admit, though, that the last three weeks have been good for them; the time has given them the chance to ease into each other's presence after roughly two years apart (_the year that never was happened for him, damn it, and he was going to acknowledge it_).

The Doctor looks over his shoulder when the steps pause and sees Rose smiling at him from the doorway, her hand outstretched. He feels a smile form on his face at the sight. Undeniably **real** – Rose standing there waiting for him to take her hand, because it's the most normal thing in the universe. Multiple universes, apparently. So he does, and they walk toward the TARDIS doors for breakfast and strategizing. As he pushes open the doors with his free hand, the Doctor's contentment fades as anxiety takes its place.

They don't belong in this universe; this war is not their war and the two of them are drastically outmatched – alien tech could only go so far when pitted against honest-to-Rassilon magic. But he doesn't run from trouble, and Rose would never let him just abandon their new friends. They are the stuff of legend – the Oncoming Storm and the Valiant Child – and they would help if they could.

Rose must have noticed his sudden shift in mood, because she squeezes his hand reassuringly. The Doctor glances down at her with a tight, lopsided smile. All he knows is that he won't lose her again.


End file.
